Creative Presents

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My son collaborated with his Dad (at least his Dad’s debit card) to make me a mini Lego figure of Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. He designed it himself. Then they both made the poncho on our home printer without letting me see. It’s a superb job. He used mgfcustoms for the construction.

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Standing behind mini Daryl is a cup designed by my daughter. My family got me Lindt chocolate truffles and as it turns out, two bags of those fit perfectly into a Trenta sized Starbucks cup that my daughter saved, washed, and decorated.

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Chocolate Caramel and White Chocolate; my favorites.

Family Sunday

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Two days past Christmas and all through the house, all were stirring except for the mouse.

My husband still doesn’t understand that the Saturday night Mass and the Sunday morning Masses are the same Mass, the same obligation, and therefore I only need to attend one. I went last night, but he’s still wondering why I haven’t gone yet today. It’s long after two in the afternoon, and about halfway through listening to one of my new CDs, I was kind of hit with the beauty of what we, as a family, were all doing and that today is the Feast of the Holy Family.

Since the Second Vatican Council, the Feast of the Holy Family occurs the Sunday after Christmas or if that Sunday falls after January 1st, the Holy Family is celebrated on December 30th. This really is a big week on the Catholic calendar; a big month really, beginning with the start of the new liturgical year and Advent, going right into the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and now the Nativity, the Holy Family, and Friday brings the Solemnity of Mary, another holy day of obligation, followed soonafter by Epiphany or Three Kings Day and the Lord’s Baptism.

The calendar can feel a bit out of order sometimes. We go from the Nativity in December, the joys of a baby’s birth, and not even six months later we are observing Good Friday, a grown man’s death, murder by crucifixion and Easter, the Resurrection. I used to think, growing up that Good Friday and Easter celebrated the same day – the crucifixion. Now, I do understand the difference, and how the different days are observed: one a day of utmost sadness and one of incredible joy.

Veneration of the Holy Family was begun in the 17th century in what was known as New France by the bishop, Saint Francois de Laval. The Feast of the Holy Family, as it is known now, was instituted as a holy day and on the Catholic calendar by Pope Leo XIII in 1893. It was to be held in January and appeared on the calendar during the Octave of the Epiphany until 1969 when things changed under Vatican II.

Our family has spent today enjoying our gifts from Christmas as well as each other’s company in relative peace. My two youngest kids are showing my husband how to play Minecraft on his new tablet; the three of them are lying on the other side of the bed chattering and pointing and blowing things up to help build his world. My oldest son slept, happy not to be bothered by the usual requests of his prescence by his family for such mundanities as food and company. He is off at work at this moment and I believe he did journey out for a fire call with his station. My part in the family’s peace is to pop in my headphones and listen to my two new CDs; new ones from Adele and Mumford and Sons. I transferred them to my kindle, snuggled under my covers with my sore knee up, disappeared under the darkness of my eye mask and enjoyed the music, all the while thinking how lovely the day’s been.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the Holy Family than to enjoy my own.

Freedom and Facebook and Politics, Oh My

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Before I write and post about my thoughts on the Jubilee of Mercy that began on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I wanted, no, needed to get this out of my system.

At some point, this will get back to my Facebook, and so I want to include this disclaimer for anyone who sees themselves in this screed.

This is not directed at any one person or any group of people. When I’ve seen these posts on my Facebook, they are from such a wide range of beliefs, political views, and religious affiliations that I started to see it as satire. The people who post these, I believe, are truly afraid of losing something. I honestly don’t understand it, but I know these people, and it saddens me to watch so many of them, not only posting these, but believing that they are true.

I can think of ten posts in the last two days that this might pertain to. For me, it might be a camel’s back sort of thing that pumped me up, so please do not be offended. And as usual, my disclaimer is longer than the entire thought.

As I moved from one marginalized group (Jewish) to another seemingly marginalized one (Catholic), I discovered the same thoughts of the presence of discrimination towards them. That isn’t to say that either group is wrong – in many ways we are all others to someone else, and when that happens we feel that. Although honestly, Christians are the least marginalized groups out there; of course unless you’re Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, African or Arab.

A lot of that stems from the attempts to include our various religions in our local (and national) government and the fact that many of us would prefer to keep it separate since you can’t possibly include everyone. For example, I’m okay with a decorated tree for the season, but I draw the line at a creche. (Yes, I still believe this even after my conversion.) A menorah, I’m on the fence about. As a Jewish person, the menorah is a religious symbol. When I taught preschool, and the kids made menorahs, mine were the only ones without a Star of David. I didn’t think sending home the Jewish star was appropriate, just like if a teacher sent home a crucifix as an art assignment for my children.

In all of the schools my kids attended, I’ve felt welcome and included for the most part. In our first school district, the school held an annual assembly – a holiday sing-a-long. I don’t recall if they called it holiday or Christmas, but it included more than Christmas songs. Most were secular, but they did throw in Silent Night and Away in a Manger in additon to Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The principal wore reindeer antlers and played the piano, and it was a wonderful, beautiful, small town in the city community gathering. I loved it, and after we changed school districts, we returned for that sing-a-long assembly for a couple of years after.

But recently, on my Facebook, and other places on the Internet that I usually ignore, there seems to be this thought of anti-Christian, anti-American bias that I’m just not seeing in reality.

Facebook does not suppress religious photos or patriotic photos. You’re not prohibited from saying Merry Christmas and G-d Bless America, so please, say it and post it to your heart’s content. Just please stop saying that you’re posting it in defiance of some imaginary Facebook TOS rule.

The Internet is indeed Real Life. When I started in 2008, there was that distinction. That line has been obliterated as we use our online presences for almost everything in our lives from communicating with our jobs and schools to holiday cards and birthday greetings. Online, offline, it is all part of us and our socializing in today’s world.

So, post your greetings whatever they might be. If I agree with them or like the cute picture of polar bears skiing, I’ll share it. Or I won’t. But posting it is not defiant. In fact, it is conforming and ordinary.

Creches and Nativity scenes. American flags and bald eagles. Religious posts, atheist posts. Wiccans and Solstice, Druidic prayers and Pope Francis’ words of wisdom.

Post them, don’t post them. Share them, don’t. I don’t care, (clearly I do, but really I don’t), but please stop telling me that Facebook cares what we post and will take it down so we must post three thousand American flags in a row or two thousand fifteen nativity scenes, not to mention that it’s still Advent – who is that in your manger?

No one is taking your guns. In fact, you’ve had more gun freedom under President Obama than the last two presidents (probably more than that).

He also is not taking too many vacation days. He’s used the least amount of vacation days of any president in this generation. We go to Long Island for Thanksgiving; he goes to Hawaii. That’s home.

He’s approved the least pardons.

He’s also Christian. Evangelical as a matter of fact.

Hillary Clinton might not be your cup of tea, but she’s not stupid and she didn’t murder an ambassador.

Do you know what I’ve been hearing at my church for the last couple of weeks? And not just from the priest and deacon, but from your run of the mill parishioners? Jesus and the Holy Family were refugees. Just like the Syrians. Except they were Jewish. Just like the ones we didn’t want and sent back in WWII. Escaping tyranny with only the clothes on their backs. Swaddling clothes in His case.

So play your Christmas carols, post your freedoms, but know that they’re not being taken away. Not sharing is not prohibiting. Saying Happy Holidays is inclusive, not EXclusive. It is for everyone – not so they’re not offended, but because we love them and they love us and they want to express that without getting a lecture on how they’re not Jewish or Christian or that they’re Wiccan and celebrate a secular Christmas, etc.

Christmas is about more than the birth of Christ. Advent and the Incarnation of Christ is in tandem with Lent and Easter. Christ is to be born in order to fulfill the prophecy that leads Him to Calvary and his Death so he can be born again. He dies for our sins, and is resurrected for our salvation.

But more than that, it is about what he said in John 13:34-35: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It’s so important that he repeats it in John 15:12. “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Season’s Greetings, Friends, and a Blessed and Happy New Year ❤

RCIA – First Day

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This morning was my first day as an RCIA teacher. It took me until last night to finally sit down with the readings and the notes from the Breaking Open the Word book that I’ve had sitting in my Adobe file for the better part of a month.

It’s not that I’m lazy – not when it comes to reading anyway, but in my subconscious I thought that if I prepared and read the readings and the papers, then I would have to go through with the class. Now, keep in mind that I was a teacher for over ten years, but those were kids, and in the end, it wasn’t for me. By last night I realized that whether or not I did the homework, the assignment wasn’t going away. I call it an assignment, but I did volunteer for it. To be honest, I want to do it. It wasn’t that long ago that I was on that side of the table in the RCIA program. Just like I brought something from my background as a catechumen, I think that I can offer something in return. I have a unique perspective, and I think everyone on the team has something special to bring to the new people.
They’ve been doing this since the fall. I was the new one again.

The catechumens are dismissed by the presider right after the Gospel is read and with me we go across the parking lot to the parish center. I glanced at my watch as Father C began his homily and tried to determine how much time I would have with them before they went on to part two of their weekly learning. Forty-five minutes. What would I say for forty-five minutes? I should have guessed that I overestimated my time when Father C said he doesn’t get to do this that often and he was going to use his time to talk about Mary.

I must admit that when he got to his fourth or fifth point about the Mother of G-d, I was almost gleeful at how much of my time had whittled away. Here I was worried that I’d run out of things to say before I ran out of time.

When we finally arrived at the parish center, the other team members were wondering what had happened to us. Father J was also there, asking if he could sit in.

Um, sure.

As it turned out, while it seemed as though he did a lot of the talking, it really was an even split between the four of us. And in retrospect, the point of breaking open the Word is to get the catechumens to think and to talk about their interpretations of the Scriptures and the Readings and to ask the questions that most concern them.

We talked about the prophet, Micah, and wondered why he wasn’t given more playing time so to speak. He’s the one who prophesies that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. That’s a pretty important piece of information. We talked about the liturgical year and the three cycles, A, B, and C that the church follows. I didn’t get to add that this is my first C cycle. I started in A with Matthew.

We talked about Mary and Elizabeth. I added my own two cents about how through Advent, we’re waiting in our modern lives, and we know what we’re waiting for, but right there in the moment, Elizabeth also knew that she was waiting for her Lord and Savior, and was astonished that His Mother came to visit her. It’s kind of amazing to realize how they watched the prophesies come to fruition.

The one thing I didn’t get to say was about how the Incarnation is in tandem with the Death and Resurrection of Lent and Easter time. Jesus is born so that he may die and be reborn. Sometimes, it’s a lot to understand. That’s one of the reasons that I enjoy going over this with the catechumens and each year as we get another Gospel writer’s point of view.

I think having Father J at this, my first class and having Father C take up so much time before dismissing us was just the icebreaker that I needed to begin my role in this ministry. I will be better prepared, although I was ready today, but next time I won’t be as full of anxiety. I’ve already met the two women, and as I walk with them on this path, I am still learning and growing in my faith.

We also talked about the interconnectedness of everything that we do and see and how it all relates around us. Father J mentioned the Star Wars connection this week in his homily, and I’ve seen things on my journey that relate back across my entire life. I’ve been wondering what I was looking for with this year of mercy, and our parish’s holy doors. I still don’t know what I want for this year, not entirely, but tomorrow is when I’ll walk through the doors. I’ll have more about that tomorrow.